Thursday, 2 August 2012

Read (and not read) in 2012 - 20: The Morrow Plot and Banzai!

Does it sometimes happen to you that you start reading something and never finish it, because you are too bored or the style is too awful (or for some other reason)?

It did happen to me yesterday.

When I was on my Kindle downloading spree earlier this year, one of the 80 or so books was "Banzai" by Parabellum (which is the pseudonym of an author named Ferdinand Heinrich Grautoff).

This English edition was published in 1909 in New York. I was looking forward to the elegant language of the time (and, stylewise, was not disappointed), and found the foreword rather intriguing. Among other things, it says

That the Pacific Ocean may become [...] the Peaceful Ocean, and never resound to the clash of American arms, is the devout wish of one who believes - implicitly - with Moltke in the old proverb, Si vis pacem, para bellum - If you wish for Peace, prepare for War.

This apparent contradiction (and I'd heard this particular proverb before) and the connection the author would make to the events described in the book - which I took to be for real, after having read the introduction - was what interested me in the story.

And it began interestingly enough. The settings change from an officer's club in Manila, where the gentlemen are so bored out of their minds by their military routine as well as affected by the tropical heat that all they manage to do in the evenings is drink whiskey and smoke, to a tiny train station in the middle of nowhere in the Oregon prairie, to the office of the rich owner of a factory producing pianos in New York, to the post office in San Francisco where telegram boys wait their orders, trying to keep awake on a sleepy Sunday morning.

Then, though, the military part takes over, and a seemingly endless series of troop movements, ship's names, strength of batteries and all sorts of war tactics follow, and I am not so keen on that. I skipped a few pages, only to find more of the same, and eventually decided to let it drop, when I was just short of being half way through the book.

As I said, I thought the events described were real. But when I did research this particular period of time on the internet, everything that had to do with a Japanese-American conflict lead to Pearl Harbour; there were references to massive anti-Japanese sentiments (and terrible riots) and racist legislation in the late 1800s and early 1900s (the book being set mainly in 1907), but not going as far as open war being declared between Japan and the US. And finally having found out that Mr. Grautoff originally wrote his story (in German) in 1905, of course the events he describes as to having taken place in 1907 can't be anything than fictional.

Maybe someone who really is massively into all things military appreciates "Banzai" - I certainly don't.

For some lighter reading, I started then on "The Morrow Plot" by Sarah Wisseman.

I had made the mistake of never checking the length of the book and expected a novel - and was surprised when it came to a sudden end after less than half an hour's worth of reading. Not the author's fault, of course, but I think "The Morrow Plot" could have profited from some filling in of character's descriptions and a bit more of a story to it. It is supposed to be an archaelogical mystery, but there is really nothing much mysterious about it, and therefore, I was a bit disappointed.Also, for a text so short, there were way too many typesetting errors in it. Sarah Wisseman should definitely talk to her editors.

Both books were for free, so, apart from a bit of my time, not much was wasted :-)

27 comments:

I have such a mental block against stopping when I find a book is boring etc. I pretend to myself that I'm just 'putting it down' for a while. And never pick it up again. But I never admit to myself that I stopped. I wonder why thst is.

I have thought about doing that with Graham Greene's Doctor Fischer of Geneva or The Bomb Party. I think I picked it up at a rummage sale or something similar only because of the author's reputation. Any way it reminds me of The Great Gatsby (a classic, hmm?). I finished that only because I wanted to discuss all that I didn't like about it at book club. Even the free books from Kindle, I have to admit I have been relying on the quip for each in deciding. I do love FREE!

Hello Meike:We are pleased to learn that both books were free so you will not have minded too much that the whole experience, of the two novels, was less satisfying than might have been anticipated or hoped for.

Usually we persist with whatever we are reading but there are occasions, not too many thankfully, when we do give up.

Yes, them being for free made it easier to simply click the "delete" button on my kindle.I just kept thinking of all the other books I want to read, which had to wait while I was still busy with "Banzai!".

I am afraid I do sometimes abandon books. I don't think they have anything particularly in common, although uninteresting use of language is often a factor.

I'm about to start reading "The Gull's Hornbook" by T. Dekker, published in the early 17th century. I have been dipping into it and it is very lively and amusing, unlike so many books of that period. It will be slow reading because I need a glossary, but I am really looking forward to it.

It was just getting really dreary, all those artillery lists and descriptions of movements of regiments and so on. And to think that it was all fiction!! The author must have had an imagination very, very different from my own, to come up with page after page of it.What is "The Gull's Hornbook" about? Will you post about it on your blog?

I think abandoning a book you're not enjoying is just fine. Life is simply too short, and there are so many books we will never have time to read. One of the joys of not being a student is not HAVING to read anything!

Exactly, Frances! I have now started on "The Marriages" by Henry James. Can't really say much yet, since I am only past the first chapter, but it already seems more entertaining than Banzai! and The Morrow Plot combined.

I used to not be able to put books down even if they were boring, but no more! Life is too short for books I don't enjoy. And the number of books out there is too enormous not to find the ones that I connect with!

Right now, I am reading a mystery that is set in Denmark in the winter. That way, I can escape our heat at least in my mind...

Liebe Silke, I am sure you are familiar with Erich Kästner; he starts one of his books by telling the reader about how he is sitting outdoors in a sunny spot by a lake in the summer, trying to write about a snowball fight on a school's playground...Your remark about the Denmark-in-winter book just reminded me of that!

1. The right to not read.2. The right to skip pages.3. The right to not finish.4. The right to reread.5. The right to read anything.6. The right to escapism.7. The right to read anywhere.8. The right to browse.9. The right to read out loud.10. The right not to defend your tastes."

-Pennac, Daniel, Better Than Life, Coach House Press, 1996.

I hope you soon find some books (free, too) which will amuse, enlighten and completely satisfy you, Meike!

Thank you, Kristi - that is a bill of rights I completely agree with!So far, most of the chance finds I downloaded to my kindle were good reads. A little disappointment every now and then is, I guess, part of the deal when you download so many books without really knowing what they are, simply because they are for free :-)

I am always reluctant not to finish a book I've started. This is entirely at odds with my brain which tells me that life is far too short to read anything that one does not have to read (especially if, like me, one is a slow reader). So I tend to put books I don't want to read on the side 'to be finished later'. Of course they will never be finished.

I suppose it has something to do with wanting to be tidy and neat, Graham. At least that is how I feel about it (sometimes). I want to finish something I have started, no matter whether it is a book or a household job or a project at work or a run. But every now and then, not finishing a book is OK, I guess :-) As Frances put it, not being students, we don't HAVE to read a certain book, nobody is going to examine us about it :-)

I've been occupied the past couple of weeks and not able to post as I'd like to...I have a tendency to want to comment on everything! So, quickly, I will add that I, like GB am a very slow reader (in fact, so slow, that my former employer paid to send me to a speed-reading class, which I'm sorry to say didn't 'take.') and also am reluctant not to finish a book once started. However, now in the twilight of my years and so many un-read books I'm finally able to say enough of this drivel and put them down.Also, Meike, I've done the same as you and downloaded free books for my Kindle only to find the majority aren't of any interest to me!

Sorry to hear that your free kindle books were not interesting! I have read two more since I wrote this review and will add those reviews to my blog soon; they were more interesting although still different from what I had expected.

Sometimes what we think is going to be good book can be disappointing, and it's hard to put them down. While I haven't done it yet, I should have when I read "The House of Sand and Fog," that book was torture for me, most loved it! I think it was an "Oprah" book club selection, and for the most part, the few books I've read that's she's recommended I have found to be less than stimulating.

My most favorite non-fiction book of recent is "The Peabody Sisters" by Megan Marshall. If you have a chance, check it out. My least favorite, mentioned above!

I'm currently reading some "local" novels set in Maine, written by a local librarian, with very corny titles! Needless to say, they are very light, summer reading! Nothing too deep! LOL!!!

Hello Mary, the local novels written by a librarian sound like good fun reading! I like the way we can relate to novels because they are set in places we know well. And I also like some very light reading every now and then :-)

If there is anything interesting enough, or I am really completely desperate for reading material and have no possibility of finding anything else to read for a while (an unlikely situation to ever happen to me), I would persevere to the end as well. But not in this case!